Beatrice 8th graders spreading hope and trying to prevent suicide

Suicide.

It’s a not a topic people want to talk about, but a group of Beatrice Middle Schoolers are hoping to change that.

“It’s really sad to see kids are committing suicide because they don’t think there’s a solution it’s good to help,” said eighth grader Tucker Timmerman.

Hope Squad was brought to Beatrice Middle School at the beginning of the year from a school in Utah.

The group is made up of 16 students from each grade who are selected by their peers, as well as teachers and school counselors.

The counselors provide training to students once a month so they can recognize signs of depression, learn how to talk to their classmates who are struggling, and know when to involve a teacher or counselor.

“You can’t always understand what people are going through and you can’t always identify if this person is sad because they’re depressed or if they’re just having a bad day. You have to ask how people are and be understanding,”said eighth grader Emma Hofer.

Hope Squad also works to bring more positivity and kindness into the school.

They put on one hopeful event a week, everything from poster contests to games, and the entire school participates.

The group hopes that by spreading kindness and raising awareness they can prevent another student from taking their life.

“Just recently we had a suicide in the county but it still touched our school, so it’s happening, but it feels really good to be doing something on the front side of this to try to prevent that. And that feels hopeful and feels good,” said Angie Vogel, a counselor at Beatrice Middle School.